Waterfowl decoy systems are well known to those skilled in the art. By way of illustration, reference may be had to applicant's copending patent application Ser. No. 12/075,778, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification. Reference also may be had to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,311,425 (flying waterfowl decoy system), 6,321,480 (self propelled waterfowl decoy), 6,339,893 (waterfowl decoy with separately movable wings and feet), 6,408,559 (animated waterfowl decoy apparatus), 6,412,209 (waterfowl decoy for selectively simulating feeding in water), 6,463,690 (steam jet propelled waterfowl decoy), 6,487,811 (waterfowl decoy with self-retracting anchor line), 6,643,971 (waterfowl feeding decoy), 7,117,628 (self-righting waterfowl decoy with integrated anchor and locking mechanism), and the like. The entire disclosure of each of these United States patents is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
By way of further illustration, U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,396 discloses an apparatus for traveling a floating waterfowl decoy continuously around a predetermined route adjacent a surface of a body of water, According to claim 1 of this patent, this system comprises (a) a continuous loop of flexible line constructed of a material suitable for prolonged submersion in a body of water, (b) a plurality of line guides for movably supporting the continuous loop at a plurality of desired positions which define the predetermined route, (c) a plurality of anchors, each of which is securely attached to a corresponding one of the plurality of line guides, for anchoring the line guides below the surface of the body of water at the desired positions along the route, (d) drive means for applying a force to the loop to cause the loop to move around the predetermined route, the drive means operable to maintain continuous operation to continuously cycle the loop around the route, and (e) a decoy tether attached to the loop for tethering a decoy to the loop. The entire disclosure of such United States patent is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
None of the prior art waterfowl decoy motion systems are entirely satisfactory. In some of these systems that utilize a rubber belt, the rubber belt often has a tendency to climb out of the idler pulleys and to relax to tension needed for proper operation.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved waterfowl decoy motion system.